


Cool Rapture On My Skin

by sartiebodyshots



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: F/F, Lesbian Courier, Nudity, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 18:34:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14408073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sartiebodyshots/pseuds/sartiebodyshots
Summary: August wants to go swimming in Lake Mead.  Veronica has never gone swimming before.  Things ensue.





	Cool Rapture On My Skin

“It’s beautiful!” August chirps as soon as she lays eyes on Lake Mead.  “I want to go swimming in it!” 

“There are people around!” Veronica points out.

“Hm,” August says.

* * *

August pokes Veronica awake late that night; they made camp down by the water at August’s behest.  She has a wide grin on her face. 

“Let’s go swimming, Veronica,” August says.  “It’s dark, there’s no one around-”

“Arcade is around,” Veronica says.  

August leans in real close.  “I don’t think we have to worry about Arcade perving on us.”

Veronica laughs.  “You’re right.”

August pops to her feet.  “You don’t have to come, but I think it’d be fun.”

She strides towards the water, taking down her ponytail and kicking her shoes off as she goes.  The ground is rough under her feet, but it only takes a moment before Veronica scrambles to her feet.  Good.

Once they’re out of direct sight of their camp, August starts peeling her clothes off and tosses them by the towels she laid out until she’s naked as the day she was born.  She strides right into the water, sighing as the cool water rises up her legs. 

“You’re naked!” Veronica practically squeaks from behind her.  

August stops her descent into the water to turn back towards Veronica, raising her hands over her head and wiggling her hips with glee.  

“Sure am!” August says.  “The water is great!”

Veronica inhales deeply, seemingly considering something before slowly pulling her hood down.  In just a few moments, she’s standing in front of August without any clothes on. 

August takes a few steps back, averting her eyes for the sake of Veronica’s privacy.  A bit of sand slips under her heel, sending her slipping backwards into the water. Her back hits the water, but she just laughs as her ass scrapes the bottom of the lake.  

She scoots backwards until the ground falls out beneath her and she’s left suspended in water.  Maybe she can keep floating forever; she suspects not. 

There’s splashing that indicates that Veronica has waded deeper  into the lake. Sure enough, a few seconds later, a splash jolts August and she rights herself, so she’s treading water instead of floating.  

Veronica is awkwardly squatted over, like she wants to be covered by the water, but doesn’t want to step off the underwater cliff to actually let herself submerge.  It’s almost a funny sight, but August doesn’t laugh.

“I don’t actually know how to swim, you know,” Veronica says. 

“Really?” August asks, frowning a little.  “I would’ve thought for sure the Brotherhood would’ve taught you.”

Veronica laughs.  “Them and what large body of water?”

“Touche,” August admits.  “You should still have a few more steps before it drops off completely.”

Veronica inches around, trying to find a better place to stand.  While she’s doing that, August lazily inches back a bit, so she has enough room to flip in the water.  There’s something about the weightlessness that’s deeply appealing, and she has vague shadows of doing this countless times before.  

“Someone clearly taught you,” Veronica says.  

August hums lightly for a moment, considering.  “I grew up near water. Not clean like this, but that didn’t matter.”

East, maybe, but she doesn’t remember enough to say that aloud.  But East feels right, somewhere deep in her bones.

“You’re remembering?” Veronica sounds almost hopeful.  

Truthfully, August’s amnesia bothers Veronica (and Arcade) more than it bothers August.  There’s just no point in fretting over something she doesn’t even remember. 

“Not really.  Just vague memories of big, watery expanses and the fun tickle of radiation.  This is much nicer,” August says.

She dodges Veronica’s piercing look by ducking her head underwater.  She runs her fingers through her red hair, ostensibly to help wash the dirt out.  There’s so much grime in the desert; it feels like she’s never going to be clean again most days.  

August stays underwater until her lungs burn.  She pops up out of the water, inhaling deeply. 

“This feels so good,” August says.  

“If I float out to you, will you make sure I don’t drown?” Veronica asks.

August flashes her a grin that she probably can’t see in the dark.  “It’d be my honor.”

Veronica leans back shakily, almost as if she’s worried that she’s going to break the water if she lays down too hard.  In a moment, she’s floating towards August, the natural swing of the water tugging her deeper. 

“I-I’m doing it!” Veronica says.  

“You are!” August says, beaming at her.  

“I can’t hear you!” Veronica says with a soft laugh.  “My ears are underwater!”

Veronica moves her arms so she drifts a little away from August and then floats herself the other way.  She floats so close to August that her hair tickles her chest.

August shifts so she’s next to Veronica instead.  Her feet kick lazily to keep her above the water, and she looks down at Veronica’s ecstatic face.  

“Why have I never done this before?” Veronica says. 

Veronica struggles to get herself upright, obviously not quite sure how to go about doing that.  She reaches out for August for support and grabs her arm.

August helps her get upright, trying to ignore that it’s suddenly harder to breathe and that her arm now feels about twenty degrees hotter than the rest of her body.  Her hand lingers on Veronica’s shoulder to make sure she’s not about to sink. 

“Just kick your feet back and forth,” August says.  “Slow and steady’ll be fine.”

“I like this,” Veronica says.  

“It’s nice,” August agrees.  

They’re not even a foot apart, holding each other’s arms for Veronica’s support.  August’s whole body suddenly feels like she’s on fire. That they’re both entirely naked certainly doesn’t help matters.  

Veronica looks gorgeous with her hair down, floating around her, and smiling in the moonlight.  It’s tempting to close the gap between them to see if her lips are as soft as they look. August can imagine what it’d feel like to have Veronica’s warm body pressed against hers, hands tangled in her hair.  It’s a good thought, and August’s cheeks warm up at the thought. 

“Are you okay?” Veronica asks quietly.  “You got quiet all of a sudden.”

“Just a lot on my mind,” August says.  

Veronica takes an unsteady hand and brushes a lock of August’s hair behind her ear.  That really doesn’t… help August’s imagination. 

“Yeah… yeah, there’s a lot going on right now,” Veronica says.  “Just don’t forget to take care of yourself, too.” 

“Oh, you know me.”

“That’s why I said it.”

“Are you feeling okay now?” August asks tentatively.

Ever since what happened with the Brotherhood and the Followers, it’s been hard for her, August knows.  August has never been quite sure how to check in on her, but she’s been worried. It feels okay to ask while they’re floating like this.

“I don’t know if that’ll ever be okay,” Veronica says, after a time.  She looks August right on, the intensity of her gaze muffled by the moonlight.  “You just kind of grow around it.”

August thinks about the hole in her head, of drowning on sand, on being pulled back up into the land of the living.  The yawning, scared emptiness where her memories used to live. 

And she nods.  

“I think I understand,” August says slowly. 

“Yeah, I think you do,” Veronica says softly.  

They float like that for a perpetual moment longer, August more tempted than ever to cross the distance between them with a kiss. But Veronica is so vulnerable like this, suspended naked in the water, and August doesn’t want to take advantage of that.  

“Can you show me how to do one of those flips?” Veronica eventually asks, voice catching in her throat.

“I think you might want to get a few more of the basics under your belt first before you try that,” August says with a grin.  “But I’d be happy to help you get there.”

They spend some time blowing bubbles in the water and getting Veronica used to the basic strokes.  Veronica catches on fast, and August likes playing teacher. 

“I’m beat,” Veronica says once she’s got the strokes down.  “We’ll have to do this again sometime.”

“I’m sure we’ll pass by the lake again,” August says, leading her to shore.  “Actually, you and Arcade follow  _ me _ around, so I can pretty much guarantee it.”

Veronica laughs quietly.  “Ah, so this time when you lead us in a big U shape, it’ll be on purpose.”

“Listen, that was  _ one _ time,” August argues as she flops on her towel.  She stares up at the moon, hanging high in the sky.  “Your sense of direction isn’t  _ too _ fantastic, either.  You followed me, after all.”

“You have a map permanently attached to your arm,” Veronica teases, laying down beside her.  “So, like, you should be able to get us from Gun Runners to Jacobstown without taking us through Goodsprings.”

“I’m fond of Goodsprings,” August says.  “Lots of good memories, there.”

Veronica laughs again, such a sweet sound, and falls silent.  It’s quiet this time of night, just the lapping of the water against the shore and Arcade’s occasional snore interrupting the gentle sounds of their breathing.  

August stares up into the sky, as she often does when she’s out this late.  It’s so incredible to her; up there there are millions- billions- of planets and stars, whirling on.  All so empty as barren (at least as far as August knows, although she’s open to being proven wrong), but she exists on this little speck of dust.  With Veronica.

That she’s here on the little ball of earth with Veronica makes it wonderful, and August is inexplicably grateful towards the entire universe for arranging itself in such a way for them to meet.  

“Hey, Veronica,” August says, wanting to put some kind of word to her feelings.  

“Yeah, August?” 

“We’re just a few days walk from New Vegas now.  We’ll be able to get your new powerfist from the Gun Runners this time around,” August says.

She hates herself, more than a little, for chickening out.  But buying Veronica an expensive powerfist from the Gun Runners is much easier than admitting how much she cares about her.

“Oh… oh cool,” Veronica says, sounding weirdly disappointed about getting a new, shiny weapon.  

“Do you not want it?” August asks.  They had talked about it before, but maybe she had changed her mind.  “It’s okay if you don’t.”

“Oh, no, I do.  I just thought… Nevermind,” Veronica says.  

August lets it drop, but looks over at Veronica out of the corner of her eye.  She’s staring up at the stars, profile crisp against the backdrop. Maybe one day, she’ll be less chickenshit.  That’ll probably be a disaster, but maybe that’s fitting, all things considered. 

**Author's Note:**

> this is literally saved as gal_pals.gdoc on my computer lmao


End file.
